Featured Cases
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
George Retes Federal Officer Accountability
Ventura, California
George Retes, a U.S. citizen and Iraq War veteran, was detained for three days after encountering an ICE roadblock on his way to work.
4th Amendment Project | License Plate Readers | Private Property
San Jose License Plate Readers
San Jose residents file federal class action lawsuit challenging city’s use of nearly 500 license plate read cameras.
Fines and Fees | Private Property
U.S. Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards
In 2016, the Department of Labor demanded $550,000 from a family farm in southern New Jersey. In their case, the agency served as prosecutor, judge, and jury, and the agency won every time. The brothers…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Leonard Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission
North Dakota ranchers fought a pipeline company with eminent domain power for the fair value of their land. But an appeals court said the company did not have to pay the ranchers’ attorney fees. That…
IJ Protects COnstitutional Rights
The Institute for Justice litigates to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans. IJ defends ordinary people who want to earn an honest living, own and enjoy their property, speak freely, and give their children a good education but find that the government is standing in their way.
We fight to hold government officials accountable when they violate constitutional rights and to prevent governments at all levels from bending the rules to expand their power or advance illegitimate ends.
See IJ’s Supreme Court Cases
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | SWAT Destruction
Los Angeles SWAT Destruction
For thirty years, Carlos Pena ran a print shop in North Hollywood. His world was turned upside down, however, in August 2022, when a fugitive forced his way into Carlos’s shop and barricaded himself inside…
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine | Private Property
Virginia Open Fields
Virginia game wardens entered a family's property, seized their camera, and searched it—all without consent or a warrant.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Texas Traffic Stop
Alek Schott partnered with IJ for a federal lawsuit against Bexar County deputies for illegally stopping him for a traffic violation that he didn’t commit, and then using the stop to detain him and search…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
C.S. Lawn Administrative Appeal
When the Department of Labor fined Chuck Saine over $50,000, the agency’s own employees served as prosecutor, judge, and jury.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Atlanta Airport Forfeiture Attorneys’ Fees
Brian Moore fought to get his property back from the federal government and he won. In 2021, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents seized $8,500 in cash from him at Atlanta’s airport while he was waiting…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Sparta, GA Eminent Domain
A group of property owners in Sparta, Georgia has teamed up to fight back against a private railroad's attempt to take their land.
Private Property | Private Solutions to Public Problems | Zoning Justice Project
North Carolina Animal Sanctuary
Kimberly Dunckel founded Fairytale Farm Animal Sanctuary to rescue and care for animals on her 3.33-acre property, but Winston-Salem officials ordered her to close her sanctuary to the public.
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Food Freedom
Federal Labeling Censorship
Federal food labeling restrictions prevent tens of millions of Americans with sensitive stomachs from receiving the information they need about low-FODMAP foods.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
DeVillier v. Texas
Victory! In April 2024, the Supreme Court vacated the Fifth Circuit decision and ruled the DeVillier family can sue Texas for flooding caused by the state. Richie DeVillier lives on the same patch of Texas…
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Detroit Retaliation
Wayne County prosecutors retaliated against Robert Reeves for joining a lawsuit challenging the county's civil forfeiture program.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
US Private Vaults Administrative Forfeiture
Linda Martin's home savings were seized by the FBI. She received a confusing forfeiture notice that didn't clearly say what she did wrong for the government to want to take her money.
First Amendment | Sign Codes | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
New Hampshire Donut Mural
Leavitt's Country Bakery Owner Sean Young filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Conway, after town officials demanded he paint over a mural that was created by local high school students last summer.